From the US to South Korea

The day I left for South Korea will always be a day I remember very well.  It was the beginning of the greatest adventure that I have ever been on.  I will attempt to describe the events of that LONG day the way I remember it.

November 30, 2011

I did not sleep the night before I was due to leave for South Korea.  My flight out of Philadelphia was at 7:35 AM and I was much too excited to sleep, so I spent the night watching a movie in my basement.  The basement at my parents house had been my area of solitude since I moved home in November 2010.  I had a 42" plasma TV down there that I had relaxed in front of every night after 11 or 12 hours of work.  On my last night in the house I wasn't watching my plasma TV because I had moved it into my mother's room, so she could use it during my absence.  Instead, at around midnight, I set up an old 20" TV, so I could relax and pass the time.  As I stared in front of me at the absence of my plasma TV, I could feel my absence from this place becoming a reality.  Many things in the basement were mine, but the plasma TV was the biggest and most obvious.  Without it I felt that the basement was missing something.  I thought of how if someone were to come down there while I was away this is what they would see.  How this basement would be a quiet, empty place while I was away.  I didn't feel sad at the time, just contemplative.

At around 5 am I was dropped off at the Philadelphia airport by my father and it was still pitch black outside.  We removed my luggage from the trunk and he embraced me very firmly.  As we said our final goodbyes, I could feel the emotion in his voice, so I quickly gathered a hold of my two large bags and began to walk away.  I feared a teary goodbye because I didn't want to begin my journey in that way.  I knew it would be a long day and I did not want to let emotion drain my energy.  I knew I would have plenty of time on the airplane to reflect.  

The next steps in the journey were a 2 hour flight to Chicago and then a 13.5 hour flight to Seoul.  I didn't really sleep at all during my flights because I was so excited and nervous all at the same time.  I can still remember the first time I looked upon the Korean landscape out of the window.  It immediately struck me that it looked nothing like any of the places I had visited in my entire life.  The small rocky islands I could see as we approached the coast were beautiful.  After arriving at the Incheon airport, I had to collect my bags, and take a shuttle to a smaller airport called Gimpo that was about 15 minutes from Incheon.  The flight from Gimpo would bring me to the Gimhae/Busan airport.  Luckily, after going through customs, there was another confused American looking to catch a shuttle to the Gimpo airport.  Ironically, his name was also Matt and we joined forces to navigate our way.  We found the shuttle with some help from a few friendly Koreans.  Before we knew it, we were at the Gimpo airport and it was once again night time.  After wasting a few dollars trying to use the pay phone, I successfully called my parents and notified them that I had arrived in South Korea in one piece.  After about an hour, Matt and I said good bye as he boarded his flight to Gwangju and I boarded my flight to Gimhae.  He was the first fellow expat I would befriend during the next 19 months and not enough can be said for meeting a stranger while traveling.  Although you don't know them, the comfort of common understanding in an unfamiliar place can really put a person at ease.

My flight to Gimhae was full of Korean businessmen and one other foreigner.  South Korea was covered by overcast that night, so I couldn't really see much from my window. After an hour flight, we descended and circled the airport above Busan and I took in the beauty of the city lights.  After exiting the plane, I struck up a conversation with the other foreigner who was on my flight. He turned out to be an American, and we exchanged names and decided to stick together.  That didn't last long, as the moment we walked into the terminal a Korean (his school's recruiter) approached us and escorted him away.  I was alone and I quickly realized after walking around the room that there was no one there waiting for me.  There were Koreans waiting there, but no one waiting for me, so I just waited around for about 10 minutes.  After becoming impatient, I attempted to use another dreaded payphone similar to the type that I already had issues with at the Gimpo airport.  I was attempting to call my recruiter, as that was the only phone number that I had.  After two failed attempts I was all out of Korean coins and no closer to knowing why there was no one there to pick me up.  I was getting stares from around the room as I was the only foreigner and obviously looked confused.   Then a Korean man came up to me and gave me some coins and attempted to help me call.  He couldn’t speak a word of English, but he was very kind and persistent in helping me.  After a few frustrating minutes, and no one answering on the other end of the phone, another Korean man hurried up behind me and grabbed my bags and said “come”.  I tried to ask him if it was Matthew that he was supposed to be picking up, but he didn’t speak any English and I just trusted that this was my ride.  After we got in his car, he dialed a number and spoke in Korean to someone on the line.  Then he handed me the phone and I was greeted by a  woman’s voice speaking to me in English.  I assume she was someone from the recruiting company, and she told me that this man would bring me to meet my director and that I should “Do a good job.”  After I hung up, we drove down the streets of Gimhae and I got my first glimpse at the city that would become my home.

Although I was extremely exhausted, I couldn't stop staring out of the window at my new surroundings.  It was fascinating to finally be in South Korea after so much time thinking about being there.  After about a 30 minute drive, the driver pulled the car onto the sidewalk, which I thought was weird, and he purchased me a drink at a convenience store that was below my academy.  A few minutes later, my director came downstairs and introduced himself and asked if I was hungry.  He said that everything was closed except McDonald's and the “Korean McDonald's”, since it was after 11 pm.  Five minutes later, I found myself eating a chicken sandwich as my director and the driver watched me and spoke in Korean.  After I finished eating they took me to my apartment building.  The ends of the hallways of my apartment building were open to the outside, so it was cold, dark, and not very welcoming.  We entered my room and I was instructed to remove my shoes.  My room was freezing because the sliding door at the back of the apartment was open and the cold December air was blowing in.  After teaching me how to use the water heater for the shower and floor, and reminding me that someone would come by at around 11 AM the next day to take me to the school, my director and the driver left. Alone in my room for the first time, I was much too excited to go to sleep, so I unpacked all of my belongings and put them in the closet.  Then I took a shower and made up my bed.  After reading for a little while I went to sleep for the first time in Korea.

I can still remember opening my eyes for the first time the next day, and it dawning on me that I was in Korea.  It was a strange realization at first, but it was quickly followed by a wave of excitement.  It had been my dream to be on my own in a faraway land and experience everything that comes with that.  When I think back on the day I left the familiar and went to South Korea, I feel really great.  It was such an important step for me personally.  The next 17 months in Korea would be a true adventure for me.

Since arriving back home in the States I have met some people who see teaching English abroad as a waste of time.  They might point out that our late twenties are when large increases in salary occur or other important career advancements happen.  They see the job, "English Teacher" and wonder why someone like myself, who is not a licensed teacher in America, would want to teach English. What they don't see in the job title is all that comes with living abroad.  For me teaching children English was an amazing experience, but the most amazing parts were everything else that came with living abroad.  Things that I would need a book to describe and emotions that I can't really explain to someone who hasn't done it.  I am left with a feeling of unrelenting optimism about life that I never had prior to living abroad.  Life is an adventure and those that just look at what job you work at, or how much money you earn, are missing an important part of what being alive is really about.  Seek adventure and do something different because I believe it's a great way to begin the task of seeking who it is you really are, what you love, and what you can become.  In the end, I don't lecture people that don't understand my decision to live abroad.  I understand that it is not for everybody and that they don't know what they are missing.

This first picture is of part of my apartment.  You can't see my bed in this picture, but it is just to the right.

The next few pictures are among the first shots I took of Gimhae the week after arriving.

Local market located about 2 minutes from my house on foot.

               
 Market at night.                    

First Overnight Bus in Thailand

Early morning
May 2, 2013

I was awoken in the middle of the overnight bus journey to Southern Thailand to a stopped bus.  As I was opening my eyes, I could hear the storage compartment of the bus being opened. There was apparently someone else joining our bus. After a minute, our driver entered the door in front of me and there was a woman of about 30 behind him.  He pointed to the empty seat next to me, and she promptly took her seat. We nodded hello to each other as I moved my bag and made room for her to sit down.  I was only half awake, but was a bit disappointed that my extra leg room was being taken away from me.  I couldn't really complain because I was the only person on the bus that had a vacant seat next to them.  As much as it sucked to give it up, I had to appreciate the extra room I got for the first 3 hours of the ride. While she was settling in, and I was re-situating myself, I looked out the window.  What I saw out the window was a first for me.  There was a 20 year old woman driving a scooter with what appeared to be her mother, of about 40 something, sitting on the scooter behind her.  Her mother was sitting with both of her legs hanging off of one side of the scooter as she sat sideways.  She was holding an infant of no more than 3 months out in front of her.  I think she was holding the small baby like this to maintain her balance while they began to move.  Neither woman was wearing a helmet and they were doing a U-turn in the middle of the road. Now, in South Korea, I witnessed all sorts of unorthodox scooter practices including, an entire family of 4 on a single scooter, scooters driving on sidewalks, down crowded alley markets and through red lights.  However, I had never seen an infant on a scooter before, let alone one being held by a woman who didn't even appear to be safely seated herself. After the scooter disappeared from view, the bus pulled away and I tried to fall back asleep.  This would just be the first time I would see ridiculous situations on scooters in South East Asia.  I would eventually become quite numb to the danger and craziness and Vietnam would eventually set a new standard of scooter insanity.

About an hour later, the bus was once again stopped and I woke up.  People started to stand up and the bus doors opened.  I looked out the window and realized we were at a rest area, so I got out of the bus with everyone else.  I walked into the building and took my first look at a South East Asian rest area.  The first thing I noticed was a strange smell that was not appetizing in the least.  I can't describe the smell, but it was something awful. Closer to a smell I would expect in a port-o-potty, not a place where I might eat something. The building did not have a wall in the front and was opened to the driveway where buses were parked. There were rows of things for sale and a kitchen in the back.  The kitchen had a counter with a window in front of it, and there were some girls working in the back.  To my surprise, there were travelers ordering food and sitting down to quickly eat before the bus would leave.  The food was white rice covered with some sort of meat and vegetables, all covered in a brownish sauce.  Now maybe I'm just paranoid, but there was no way I was going to eat anything coming from that kitchen.  Not only did the smell dispel any slight appetite I had, but I was about to get back onto a bus for another 8 hours.  I mean I like to try different things, but that is only if there is a bathroom nearby.  Granted the bus did have a tiny bathroom, but not one I would choose to have an upset stomach in.   I don't mind an upset stomach in my own home, but I would prefer not to have one in the middle of the night, in a third world country, while I'm surrounded by a bunch of strangers.

After deciding that I wasn't going to eat the "fresh food", I decided to check out what kinds of packaged foods were for sale.  They mostly had all sorts of unidentifiable snacks that I won't even attempt to guess at.  I could tell that there was a fair amount of dried fruits that looked edible, but I wasn't in the mood for that.  After I wandered a bit, I decided to go to the bathroom.  While I walked down the dark corridor to the bathroom, I could see the reflection of a woman in one of the mirrors at the end of the hall.  I immediately thought I was walking into the women's bathroom, so I turned around  and walked back to the beginning of the hallway.  When I reached the store again, I looked around and saw that the women's bathroom was indeed across the room and I was in the right place.  So I walked back and awkwardly passed the woman that was brushing her teeth and proceeded into the area with the toilets.  I was greeted by a dark, damp room that had a bunch of stalls with squat toilets in them.  Each stall was really dirty, and wet, and the whole place reeked.  There were also dozens of lizards crawling on the walls and ceiling.  I quickly did my business and got out of there, as it reminded me of a place that I might imagine in a nightmare.  After getting back to the front of the building, I got on the bus and hoped I hadn't touched anything in that place.  A few minutes later, everyone else finished their food and cigarettes and we departed.  At around 2 am, about half of the people on the bus got off the bus and went somewhere else.  I think they were getting on a ferry to another island further North.  I really had no idea at the time and didn't bother to find out.

I was able to sleep for most of the remainder of the trip, and we arrived at Surrathani a few hours earlier than I had anticipated.  It was about 5 or 6 am when the bus stopped at a small house that had been turned into a store and office. The sun was just peaking over the horizon when we were told to get out of the bus.  The sky was clear and the air was humid, but not too hot.  The driver unloaded everyone's bags from beneath the bus and set them on the ground.  After the bus left, I walked around confused by our current situation.  I was under the impression that we were being taken to a dock to get onto a ferry to Koh Phangan.  Instead we were in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere with no water in sight.  I took a seat next to some other travelers and watched the stray dogs on the road.  One of them was missing a front leg and was hobbling to walk very slowly. I felt quite sorry for him and wondered how he managed to lose his leg.  The dog laid down in the road and rested as some cars and scooters drove past him. Then another dog appeared down the road and the three legged dog sprung up and sprinted over to greet it.  It ran so well on three legs that I don't even think his condition slowed him down at all.  It was only walking that was apparently difficult for him.  I would come to love the stray dogs in Thailand.  In America, strays tend to stay away from people. They tend to be very wary of people and don't always seem very nice.  Strays in America have learned that people generally try to capture them and bring them to the pound.  People also tend to mistreat stray dogs and fear contact with them because of diseases.  I found that in Thailand the strays are the nicest dogs.  I met hundreds of strays while traveling and they were as friendly as any dog you might find in your friends back yard in America.  They might be covered in scars and missing a leg here and there, but they are wonderful to interact with while traveling.

Here's a view of the sunrise while we were waiting that morning.

This is a stray I met on Koh Chang later in the month.  You can see that his back is covered in scars.

After a few hours of waiting, I was called into the building.  All of the other travelers had already been called into the building one by one and I wasn't sure exactly what they were doing in there.  When I got inside, I was told to take a seat and a man was sitting at a desk.  He asked me if I already had accommodation on the island and I told him that I did not.  He asked me if I wanted to stay in the busy area of the island or in an area with less people.  At the time I didn't have any idea where the best place to stay was, but I knew I was just booking the first night and I could always change location the next day.  After looking at a map, I opted for a more quiet location on the island.  I paid the man for the accommodation and he gave me a card with the name of the place, so I could find the free hotel taxi when I arrived on the island.  This situation is another example of how easy it is to get around Thailand.  I didn't even have to plan or search for a place to stay.  There was always a quick and painless transition from one place to the next.

When I left the building, everyone was already in a van, so I grabbed my bags and hopped in with everyone else.  After a 10 minute van ride, we pulled up to a bus and joined a larger group of backpackers.  The van was old and the seat in front of me was broken and kept falling in my lap.  I remember that a group of German guys around me were having a good time teasing some girls from Hungary that were sitting next to us.  They had a few laughs with some jokes that included "Oh you are from Hungary? Are you Hungry?" I remember being embarrassed for all men everywhere.  After a thirty minute bus ride, we pulled up to the ferry and I was happy to finally get a glimpse of beautiful Southern Thailand.

The ferry ride was beautiful and the deck on top was extremely hot, but I made sure I got a few pictures while I was up there. After we stopped at Koh Samui, to drop some people off, we made our way to Koh Phangan.  I finally arrived at the first tropical island of my trip and my vacation could really begin.

Transit and Arrivel in Thailand

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

One hour from touchdown in Bangkok, and I was feeling how I feared I might 2 days earlier.  I have never gotten sick on an airplane in my life, but in this moment, 30,000 feet above the dark South East Asian landscape, I was thinking my days of claiming that were over.  My current connecting flight from Shanghai to Bangkok was only about 4 hours long, but it had been a long day up to this point.  It was only 36 hours earlier that I was recovering from what I can only assume was a bout of food poisoning.  At this point, I still hadn't eaten a full meal in days, and my stomach was not in great shape.  The stress of my 9 hour layover at the Shanghai airport earlier this day, and barely getting any sleep, coupled with my recent ability to vomit almost hourly, was not boosting my confidence that I could avoid getting sick.  I was thinking being sick wouldn't be so bad if I were in a bathroom, or literally anywhere aside from an airplane seat with a bunch of strangers all around me.  

In between taking deep breathes, and wiping sweat from my forehead, I looked out the window and saw faint lights from the small cities below.  I really did not fancy throwing up in my tiny airplane seat, so I closed my eyes and focused on the music playing through my IPod.  With my head pressed up against the seat in front of me, I dozed off to sleep for about 45 minutes. I only know how long I had passed out because the Neil Young album I had started at track one, upon the wave of initial nausea, was now on the final track of the album.  When I lifted my head off the seat in front of me, and leaned back into my seat, I felt a wave of relief.  I must have been awoken by our rapid descent and I knew we were only minutes from landing.  I felt a lot better and I checked my watch to see our ETA.  It was about 1 am, and according to my calculations at the time of take off, we were about 10 minutes from touchdown.  I knew I had avoided the dreadful close encounter with the airsick bag, and sat back and enjoyed my first views of Thailand.  The area below, visible with street lights and some traffic, was nothing like any place I had ever seen in my life.  It wasn't anything too interesting, but just looked very different than I had ever seen before.

I thought that touching down and exiting the airplane would be the end of my stressful day, but I was grievously mistaken.  There was the dreaded customs line ahead of me and it was really really long.  Not only was the line insanely long, but I didn't have a customs card to fill out.  There were customs cards handed out on the airplane, but I either never received one from the flight attendant, or in my nauseous state, left it on the airplane.  Now, of course, there were none available for me to fill out in their designated holder.  I also couldn't get anywhere close to the customs window to try and get another one because of the hundreds of other travelers waiting in line between me and the window. I began to wander the airport looking for help, but there was not a competent person who could help me to be found.  This may have been easily solved, but I was nearly delirious after such a long day of traveling.  I was not the only one in this situation, as a few others were walking around confused and seeking help as well. After about 30 minutes, I  saw a customs agent walking around and asked her where I could get a customs card.  She looked at me for a second and then reached into her pocket and pulled out a stack and handed me one.  Don't ask me why she didn't restock the card holder that is located 10 feet from where we are standing with the extras that she was just carrying around.  While filling out the card, I saw another guy who had been looking for a customs card, and I directed him to ask one of the agents that was now standing adjacent to the insanely long line.  By the time I filled out the card and got in line, it was significantly shorter and not nearly as daunting.  Thirty minutes later, I was past customs and on to collecting my luggage.  This part was painless and my luggage luckily made the journey from Busan to Bangkok and it was time to get the heck out of the airport and to a bed.

Before arriving in Thailand, I had booked a hotel room for my first night that included airport pickup and transfer to my hotel.  I knew I would be arriving in the middle of the night and didn't want to deal with locating a room or finding a ride at 2 in the morning.  I picked the hotel primarily because of the airport transfer that was advertised on Agoda.  Of course there was no such airport pickup waiting for me that night.  I wandered the terminal and refused any offer from taxi services because I was apprehensive of being grossly overcharged and I was holding out the on hope that I would find my hotel transfer eventually.  I asked the information desk and they couldn't give me any information about my hotel and seemed to have never heard of it.  Finally, I bargained with a woman who said she worked for a taxi service, and booked a ride for 100 baht less than her original offer.  I still knew I was getting overcharged, but I was much too tired to care. She walked me outside and I was immediately greeted by the humid and hot Thailand air.  It felt great and there was a tropical smell in the air. She then yelled in Thai what I thought was similar to "Hey!" in English, but it turned out to be my taxi driver's name.  He pulled his brand new luxury car up to me and loaded my bag into the trunk.  I tried to get into the left front seat of the car, but I had forgotten that in Thailand they drive on the opposite side of the road, so I was attempting to get into the driver's seat.  The driver had a laugh, and directed me to the get into the other side, and we were off.  

I can't remember the make of the car, but I think it was a decked out, brand new Nissan Maxima with leather interior. I was impressed, as I had imagined Thailand being the land of rundown 20 year old cars.   I asked him why I was being charged so much for the drive and he said it was very far away.  Based on my research of the lay of the land using Google Earth prior to my trip, I didn't think it was that far, but I had given up trying to get a cheaper ride.  All I wanted at that moment was my bed.  The driver made some small talk with me, and after appearing to have no idea where he was taking me, we pulled onto some pitch black side road.  In the middle of this road were loads of stray dogs who scattered out of the way as the driver nearly ran them over with little, to no care, about killing them one way or the other.  Honestly, at this point during the ride, I thought he was bringing me to some location to meet his buddies to rob me.  I mean I was aware of foreigners being robbed in Thailand and was expecting that at 2 am, on this decrepit side road outside Bangkok, that is exactly what was going to happen.  He appeared to be a nice guy, but so do most scam artists right?  A few minutes later, I was relieved to spot the name of the hotel that I had booked up ahead and pointed for the driver to take me there.  As we pulled up, it appeared to be closed and no one was around anywhere except for more stray dogs.  When I got out of the car, I made sure he took my bag out of the trunk, as I was waiting for him to try and drive off with it.  Then we walked up and tried to get inside, but the doors were locked.  He pulled a phone out, and was attempting to call a number I had from Agoda.  Just then, a man appeared inside and opened the door.  I then paid the driver, who I then realized was a nice guy, with no intention of robbing me.  Once I was safely inside, he drove away.  

The man working the front desk, appeared to have just awoken from a nap, and located my reservation in his book.  He then gave me a room key, cut a wifi number from his book and gave it to me.  After walking up to the floor he told me to go to, I realized that the number on my key was faded and smeared and I couldn't tell if my room number was a 3, 5 or 7.  So I tried what I thought it was first, a 7.  After fiddling with the door to room 7 for a few seconds, a dog inside started barking and I realized that this wasn't it.  Then I tried the next most likely number it appeared to be, a 3.  This door wouldn't open either and I could hear someone stirring inside the room, so I quickly went back to the lobby for help.  The man looked at me like I was stupid and said that it was a 5.  Of course once he assured me it was a 5 it began to resemble a 5, but prior to that, I am telling you, it was impossible to tell.  After entering my room, I took stock in my accommodation.  Now, at the time, the room had a really skeevy feel to it and I was again waiting for someone to break down the door and rob me.  A few weeks of traveling later, I would have thought this was quite a nice place, but it being my first experience in a South East Asian hotel, I thought it was a little disconcerting.  This room cost me was about 17 dollars a night, so by South East Asian standards it was definitely on the higher end side of things.  After a shower, notifying my mother that I was safe in Thailand and surfing some TV channels that were in multiple languages, I turned the light off and went to sleep.  

In the morning, I woke up and was excited to start my first day in Thailand.  I opened the door to my 2 foot by 3 foot balcony and had my first glimpse of Thailand.  This is what I saw, and it didn't appear nearly as formidable as it had the previous night.  It is a wonder what daylight can do to make a place feel more welcoming.  I remember that the heat and humidity were already oppressive even though it was only about 10 in the morning.

I then took a shower and reorganized my bag.  I took out the sweat pants and a hoody that I had brought with me and set them aside.  I knew that there was no way I would need these articles of clothing in this heat and they would just be taking up room in my bag.  I would leave them in the room for the hotel staff to find and hopefully give to someone who might be able to use them.  After repacking, and making sure I wasn't forgetting anything, I left the room to begin my day.  Downstairs, at a small store beside the hotel, I bought a bottle of water and asked how to get a taxi into the city.  A woman in the store brought me to the side of the hotel, where two men and a blue minivan were sitting.  One of the men said, "Good morning" to me and took out a piece of paper from his pocket that had my name and a date and time on it.  He began to apologize to me, as this note was apparently a reminder to pick me up at the airport the night before.  I told him not to worry about it and asked him how I could get into the city. After I made sure that I had already paid for the room online, he introduced me to a taxi driver who could bring me into town. I loaded up my bag, got in the minivan and told the driver to bring me to Khao San Road, which is where all travelers go.  I was told to buy a ticket to Koh Phangan on this road, and that is as far as I had planned ahead for my travels up to this point.

As we drove down a highway into the city, I was taken aback by the scale of the city, as it was even larger than I had imagined.  During the ride, the driver spoke to me and I was very impressed with his English ability. I had never had a Korean taxi driver speak to me in anywhere close to this level of fluency.  In my experience, most Korean taxi drivers can't speak any English except "Where are you from?" and of course "Hello and Goodbye".  I asked him if he studied English, and he replied that he had a book that he studied on his own and that he also practices as much as he can with tourists to hone his skills.  I was extremely impressed by this, and began to feel very comfortable with him.  He then offered to take me to a travel agent he knew that was closer by.  He told me that the traffic going into the city at this time of the day would be really awful and it didn't make much sense to go all the way to Khao San Road to buy the ticket.  I agreed, and a few minutes later we arrived at a travel agent.  The woman working there spoke English almost like a native speaker and I purchased a bus and ferry ticket to Koh Phangan.  The bus would depart Bangkok at 7 pm that evening and the ferry would arrive on the island at about noon the following day.  I didn't learn until about a week later that I paid double the going rate for the trip to Koh Phangan from Bangkok.  She knew she could scam me because the first thing she asked me was "How long have you been in Thailand?" and "Is this your first trip here?".  When I replied "10 hours", she must have thought hook, line and sinker. I wasn't pleased with getting ripped off, but it taught me to be more vigilant about searching around for the best price throughout the rest of my trip.

After leaving the travel agent, I told the driver to drop me off somewhere close to where the bus would depart that evening, so I could walk around and explore a little bit.  I told him I just wanted to see a little bit of the city and get something to eat.  He told me he would take me to a shopping area and I responded that I wasn't interested in shopping and I just wanted to walk around a little bit and get some food.  He told me that a lot of food in the city isn't all that safe to eat and if he dropped me off at the shopping area I could find good, safe food.  He also said he would write me a note to show a taxi driver later that would communicate where I needed to go to catch the bus.  He then pulled up across the street from the MBK shopping center, wrote me the note, and I paid him. I thanked him for his help, and kindness, and found myself on a bustling Bangkok sidewalk full of sights and smells that were unlike anything I had ever seen.  After taking a pedestrian ramp to the other side of the street, I was inside MBK on the second floor. I wandered around this monstrosity of a shopping complex and tested my ATM cards to make sure that they worked.  After seeing that there were lots of western options to eat, I decided to eat at McDonald's to try keep the tradition of, McDonald's being my first meal in new countries, as it had been in South Korea and Japan.  It was only after I ordered a meal, sat down and spilled the overfilled coke on my lap, that I realized that this would be my first full meal since I had gotten food poisoning 3 days before.  I was a bit apprehensive about eating this meal, but trusted in the golden arches and ate every last bit.  I then spent a few minutes people watching, and making sure I wasn't going to feel sick, before I went outside to get some fresh air.  

Side note: I never got sick and aside from the normal feeling after eating a meal at McDonald's it was a good meal.

The MBK shopping center is an enormous maze of floors selling so much crap that I couldn't wrap my head around it.  About half of the people shopping there were tourists from all over the world. Inside were western style shops like a mall, as well as, a South East Asian style shopping stalls that were all selling what appeared to be very similar types of touristy crap.  There was also a movie theater and a bowling ally full of colorful lights and loud music.  After hours of wandering inside, and then sitting at a doughnut shop that resembled Krispy Kreme for 30 minutes, with a frozen drink, I made my way outside to eventually find a taxi.   

I found these pictures on Google as I didn't take any pictures of the MBK shopping center that day.  Notice the pedestrian walkway over the busy street that I used in the distance.

This is the MBK bowling alley.

After getting outside, I took a seat on a ledge along a busy road next to MBK and got lots of  "Where you go?" and "You need ride?" from every passing taxi drivers, as well as men walking the streets trying to recruit me to ride in their Tuk Tuks.  Eventually, I felt it was time to make my way to the bus stop and waved down a taxi.  When I got in the taxi, I showed the driver the note I had received from my driver earlier and he nodded and began to drive me.  After 10 minutes he stopped at what I was sure couldn't be the right location.  It was not a bus station as I had imagined, but just a row of businesses. Being that he didn't speak much English, and I trusted that he could read the Thai note, I got out.  I walked into the closest place that said "Travel" on the sign and showed them my ticket and asked if this was the right place.  I was shocked to find out that I was indeed at the right place and began to realize that getting around Thailand was extremely easy to do, although there are moments when you might feel lost or confused.  The travel agency people told me that I had about an hour and a half before the bus was leaving and that I could leave my bag there and walk around.  Normally, I wouldn't leave my bag anywhere, but there were about a dozen other travelers' bags there.  I  also had all my important things in a smaller backpack that would never leave my side and didn't think my things were too desirable.  Unless, of course, they wanted to steal some plain t-shirts and some underwear, I felt my things were secure.

After wandering in the heat for a few blocks and taking pictures, I thought it was due time for a beer to finally get my vacation started.   I settled on what looked like a decent place.  I based this on the fact that there was a table of other travelers enjoying beers outside.  I made my way in and was seated by a friendly, flamboyant man who gave me a menu.  He was really happy that I decided to have a drink there and spent the rest of the time winking at me and just making me feel uncomfortable.  I knew he was harmless and I think it was actually his parents establishment, so he must have always had a good time hitting on foreign guys and making them feel uncomfortable.  After a few minutes, I ordered a beer and a chicken salad and let the time pass. The food was decent, the beer was refreshing, and with a slight buzz, I felt really happy and relaxed to be on vacation. After paying my bill, and getting an awkward hug and an "I love you" from the strange waiter at the restaurant, I left. At  6:45 pm, I walked back to the travel agent to find my bag was still there, and I waited for the bus to arrive.  Thirty or so minutes later, a man came and told me to follow him. I followed him down the street to where 2 huge buses were loading up other backpackers.  I got in and took the seat the man pointed at.  I had the only seat on the bus with a vacant seat next to it, so I felt quite lucky for the extra room. Unfortunately, a British man directly behind me was emphatically explaining his travels in Vietnam to a friend, so I put my head phones on to drown him out.  With music in my ears, and the security of other travelers all around me, I shut my eyes and tried to sleep.  It would, after all, be at least a 12 hour bus ride to Suratthani, in Southern Thailand, and I didn't intend to be awake the whole way.  

Saying Goodbye to Korea in retrospect

So my departure from South Korea was not as I had hoped it would be, but it was full or surprises for better or worse.  Let me take a few steps back, and note that I knew in February that my final day of work at my school would be Friday, April 26th.  The way it works is that when a foreign teacher leaves our school their replacement teacher is supposed to show up as soon as possible.  Now, from my personal experience at the school, the new teacher never shows up on time, and the other teachers are responsible for covering the departing teachers classes until the replacement teacher arrives.  This is normally the case because of extended and unexpected waiting times for Visas, and other paperwork that delays the new teacher from coming to Korea on time.  Twice, in my time at my school, I had fellow teachers leave, and both times we had about 3 to 4 weeks of either a complete schedule change, or basically just every teacher picking up an extra class a day. None of the foreign teachers really like this time because it means that we lose a break and we don't get paid extra for it because we are technically all still working under our contractual amount of hours. The Korean English teachers complain also, but they get paid per class taught, so for them it means a few extra bucks in their pocket, although they are losing a break.  I am not extremely fond of these times, but I do get to teach students I don't normally interact with, which is fun and interesting.  After all, they don't know "Matt Teacher" very well, so it is easy to mess with them and make them laugh.

With my knowledge of the situations that had happened with the prior teachers, I was expecting my replacement to arrive at least a week after my last day.  I personally did not want to finish on the 26th, and then depart Korea the following day.  I wanted to make sure I had a proper amount of time to say goodbye to all of my friends.  So, I wanted to schedule my flight for the following Tuesday, April 30th.  Thus allowing myself an extra 4 days to say my goodbyes and get ready to leave.  Normally, the director buys the plane ticket for the departing teacher, but I opted to have my director pay me my flight money in cash, so I could buy my own flight to Thailand when I wanted.  So I went ahead and purchased my flights to Thailand and then back to America in the middle of February.

Fast forward to the middle of April.   About a week or two before my final day, I was notified that the girl who would be my replacement already lived in South Korea.  She was finishing up a teaching contract in Seoul.  I immediately realized that this meant that she would probably not be late arriving to the school.  She wouldn't have any paperwork delays and could pretty much show up whenever my director told her to.  My director knew that I had scheduled my flight for 4 days after my last day, and because the new teacher would be moving into my apartment, offered for me to stay in his home until I was scheduled to leave.  I was extremely grateful because I was aware that the cheapest local hotels that I would need to stay in, during the interim, were about 30-40 dollars per night. The head teacher, who is an American, told me that this was quite an honor, as the director had never opened his home to a foreign teacher before, except for him one time when he was locked out of his room after returning from a trip to the USA.  He was an exception though, as he was the head teacher and had taught there for 4 or so years when this occurred.  Anyway, I was all set, and knew that I had a place to stay and began to sell my things, throw away accumulated crap, and pack my bags.

During my final week, I met up with some Korean friends for the last time and said my goodbyes.  Each time I walked away with a sense of loss and I felt the weight of saying goodbye.  These were wonderful people, who had helped me, taught me Korean, and cared about me during my time in Korea.  I knew that I would always easily be in touch with them because of Kakao Talk (Korean Whatsapp) and Facebook, but it wouldn't be quite the same. I could always return to Korea to visit and meet up with these people again, but it might not be for a number of years. Here are some pictures of my close friends and coteachers.

My last day at school had a few emotional moments as well.  I knew that, unlike my Korean friends, my students and I would likely never see each other again.  Many of them were so young that they probably wouldn't remember me that well.  Not to mention that they are not on Facebook or Kakao Talk, and I don't even know their real names.  All I know is the English names that they are given as students at my school.  One of them could become a famous actor in 20 years and I wouldn't even know for sure that this was the same person who I taught when they were a small child.  For the most part, I held it together during my last day.  Only once did I nearly get overwhelmed by emotion and I posted it on Facebook, so I might as well just repost it here because I said it best then. This is from April 26th:

"So today the reality of my departure from Korea finally became real when I reminded my kindergarten class that today was my last day and for them to sit down and be good. Right as I was saying this sentence, I felt two small hands gripping my legs as a firm hug was being planted from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw this little face pressed up against my side with his eyes shut. I put my hands over his and rubbed them, and after about 15 seconds he let go and went back to his seat without a word exchanged. He was holding back tears, but remained strong and I knew that I had to do the same.."

It was hard to say goodbye to these little faces.

These are just a few, of over 100 students, I taught over my tenure at that school.  They are special little people and saying farewell was not easy.

Okay, so my last day at school came and passed.  Afterward, I went out to eat with all of my co-teachers that night.  The mother of one of my students actually paid for the whole dinner, as a show of appreciation, which was surprising as the meal must of cost several hundred dollars.  The following day I packed the remainder of my things and put the majority of my clothes in a goodwill bin.  My director notified me that the replacement teacher wouldn't be arriving until Sunday, so I could remain in my room Saturday night.  This was great news, so I did some more packing, got a haircut, and I took care of some errands.  That night I went to the annual Gimhae Gaya Festival that is held in my city.  I met with my closest co-teachers and we had a nice time.  I remember feeling a bit different during the festival, not emotionally, but physically.  I thought I was just hungry, so I bought some fried chicken from a local vendor, who had some of the best fried chicken I have ever tasted, ate it, and I went to sleep.  

                                                              Gaya Festival Shops

                                   

The night however, wasn't over for me, and at around 3 am I woke up and vomited.  Then again at 5 am I awoke, in a cold sweat, and vomited.  Since my director was due to pick me up at around 10 am to bring me to his home, I sent a message to his wife notifying her of my condition.  She told me that he would take me to the hospital when he picked me up.  Luckily I was pretty much ready to leave my room except for some final cleaning.  After throwing up again at 7 am, I felt okay for about an hour.  During this time I was able to complete the final touches cleaning my room, and finalize packing my backpack for my journey in South East Asia. 

It was after 10 am when my director came to my room and took me to a hospital. Before leaving my room, he commented that he was impressed with the state of my room. He said he had never had a room that was so clean when a teacher was leaving.  I was happy to hear that, but felt too sick, and just wanted to go to the hospital.  After arriving, he communicated my ailment to the doctors and they put me on an IV.  He left to run some errands for the new teacher and I laid in a bed.  After about 30 min I vomited again and then fell asleep.  The nurses, although they didn't speak English, were very kind to me.  They wiped my face and mouth while I was sick and made me feel okay in my vulnerable state.  An hour or so later, my director picked me up, paid for my medication at the pharmacy, and brought me to his house.  His two young daughters, ages 5 and 8, the older of which is my student, were waiting for me at the house.  Upon my arrival the younger one cheered "Matt Teacher!" and began to jump around.  Her father told her that I was sick and needed to rest.  She responded in Korean that she wanted to play with me, and we had a little laugh at her cuteness.  He then set me up with a bed in one of their bedrooms and told me to sleep.  I was due to meet up with one of my best friends that afternoon to say goodbye, but he wisely advised that I cancel the meeting.  Good thing I did, as I spent the remainder of the day throwing up about once every 2 hours.  I couldn't hold down anything, not even water.  I was not doing very well.

That night I didn't feel any better, but they purchased me some food so I could attempt to eat.  As I was in no state to eat more than a bite or two, I just watched TV with their family.  I would have to leave the room and vomit each hour or so.  Despite my condition, they made me feel so comfortable and at ease.  I am extremely grateful to my director, and his wife, for the care they showed me during my final days in Korea.  Although they no longer had a financial or business interest in me, they took care of me like family, and displayed the kind of care that my own mother and father have when I was sick as a child.  The next day my director's wife even took me to the doctor to see if they could write me a note, so I could delay my flight to Thailand for a day or so.  I really did not want to get on an airplane in this state, and was sad because I hadn't been able to use these last few days to say goodbye to my best friends as I had planned.  I had specifically decided to leave on Tuesday, so I would have a chance to say goodbye, and here I was stranded in bed.  It was a pretty crappy situation to be in, but I got to know my director and his wife a lot better during that time which was a blessing in disguise.  The doctor told me that I would most likely be fine by the time I had to fly and he would be lying if he wrote that he didn't think I could.  He did say I could pay him about 100 dollars and he would write the note for me, but the directors wife and I didn't care for his offer, or his attitude, so we left.

Here are some photos of my director and his daughters while I was sick in their home.

After the doctor's office, although I was weak and hadn't eaten in about 36 hours, I went to my school to say my final goodbyes to the kindergartners.  Now I think this would have been an emotional time for me, but because I was malnourished, on about 3 hours of sleep, and still sick, I felt quite numb.  Everyone was surprised by how I looked, as I must have lost about 6 pounds since Friday and looked very pale.  Koreans are not one to hold back what they think about how you look, and today was no different.  I was told many times that I looked like a ghost. My director's wife then brought me to the Post Office and helped me mail my computer, suit,  a few shirts, and some personal things I wanted to send home.  She was great, and helped me navigate all the different options. She took care of everything while I sat on a bench, as standing at this time was making me nauseous. Afterward, I returned to the school  and waited until everyone left and took some final pictures with everyone that I didn't have pictures with.  I couldn't feel anything at that time, and it's much sadder in my mind now, thinking back on it, then it was at that time.  That night, I finally got to meet one of my best friends who I cancelled with the day before. We exchanged gifts and sat in a park for a little while and talked.  Afterward, I met up with another close friend and we went to my favorite restaurant for some pig spine soup. Unfortunately, I could only sip the broth of the soup and eat a little bit of rice.  This was a real shame because I love that food so much.

Here is what a portion for 3-4 people looks like.  We only got a small bowl for 1 person that night though. We didn't even come close to finishing it because I couldn't eat much and she wasn't even that hungry.  Just smelling its deliciousness one last time was good enough at that time.

That night I stayed up and watched some Korean drama with my director.  His wife and his two daughters were in bed.  They were all sharing one bedroom because I was occupying their daughter's room.  This was my first time actually watching a Korean drama.  It was a mid-evil period drama about a war between Korea and China.  Although I had almost no idea what was going on, it was still pretty entertaining and my director gave me some history lessons about Korea.  It was a good night and nice to get to know my director a bit better before I left.

The next morning was my day of departure.  I had breakfast with my director and his family.  We had a traditional Korean breakfast, and I was able to actually eat, albeit not that much, and I said my final goodbyes to them.  I was very grateful for their hospitality, and I gathered my things and after expressing my gratitude, I left their home.  It was a beautiful spring morning and I walked to a nearby park to meet my friend who would drive me to the airport.  While I was waiting for her, I saw one of my students walking to school with her grandma.  I was feeling pretty sad at that time and was happy to see one of my students one last time.  She was a first grader, and in her first year of English education, so she couldn't speak to me very well.  Just seeing her smile, and saying good-bye, brought a smile to my face.  I had sat in this park many times during my breaks recently and was happy to spend my last moments in Gimhae there.  After a few minutes, my friend arrived and brought me to the airport.  Gimhae and Busan share an airport, which is technically in Gimhae, so it was only about 35 minutes away.  She then helped me square away things with my cell phone and we talked.  After a few tears, and some hugs, I said goodbye to her and entered the airport.  A few hours later I was on a plane to Shanghai and then eventually (after a 8 hour layover) on a flight to Bangkok.

I'll always remember South Korea very fondly.  Not just is South Korea a beautiful country, full of amazing food and culture, but because of the wonderful Korean people that I met there.  They, along with some amazing fellow foreign teachers, will always be the most important part of my experience teaching English in that wonderful place that became my home.

This my neighborhood from the mountain behind my apartment. 

This is the river where all of my runs in Korea happened. (In hindsight, not nearly as many as I should have)

 This is the path I would run, a few miles south of Gimhae, looking back toward the city.  Notice the rice paddy on the left and river on the right.

Haeundae beach, Busan, in the heat of the summer. About an hour bus ride from my home.

This is a picture I took during a Booze Cruise around the port of Busan.

Home Again

I have now been home for about 1 month after 19 months abroad.  What can I say now that I have fully digested being home?  Well I think it has become abundantly obvious to me that I can't live in the US right now and be fulfilled.  This isn't to say that I don't want to eventually settle down with a career here, but after getting a taste of what else is out there, I want some more of that first.  I have many friends here that either have full time work or are seeking a better job here.  I completely respect that path as I was on it myself. Prior to moving to South Korea, I worked at a full time job for over 3 years, and it wasn't doing anything for me. Sure I gained valuable technical experience in the Environmental Consulting industry, and put some money in my pocket,  but it wasn't satisfying my desire to live.  I came to the realization that there was nothing stopping me from quitting my job and making a major change in my life.  The only thing in my way was what I thought I was supposed to do.  I found out that there wasn't anything I was supposed to do, except find my own happiness.  So I sought happiness my own way, and opted for the relative unknown, and moved to South Korea to teach English.

For 17 months I lived in South Korea, and it was, all in all, one of the best experiences of my life. Sure there were ups and downs, but overall it was a highly positive experience.  I believe that the aspects that I found challenging have only made me a more mature and capable person.  I am just now thinking back on it all and trying to put it into some sort of cohesive narrative in my mind.  I have tried to talk about my experience to friends and family back here at home, and I just start jumping from story to story.  I also did about 2 months of traveling following my stint in South Korea.  Because those travels are the most recent thing in my mind, as well as something I found so exciting and different, I tend to talk about it more than my time in South Korea. I want people to try and get a sense of what life was like there and why I loved it so much.  I now regret not blogging during my time there because it is overwhelming to try and write about it all now.  I know it is pretty much an impossibility because even I have now forgotten many details.  I also don't remember exactly how I was feeling at each point during my experience there.  Not to mention that many things that people would find to be really interesting and different are now normal to me, so I wouldn't remember to include them.  

I will eventually try and write about certain parts of my experience in South Korea, as well as my travels post Korea, but I want to use this particular blog post to try and explain how I am feeling now.  Since arriving at home I have traveled a little bit, visited old stomping grounds, run trails that I used to frequent, spent time with old friends, as well as enjoyed American food.  These things have been amazing for me and I really enjoy these aspects of being home.  I have also laid the groundwork for some short term work here in my hometown, but I am apprehensive about looking for full-time work here.  I know that if I get a full-time job here I will find happiness in it, but I will sacrifice the opportunity to travel the world in the way that being young and unattached would allow me to do.  

During my time in South Korea, as well as traveling South East Asia, I met some of the most interesting people.  These people were living the kind of life that many Americans would believe is impossible.  The fellow teachers I met in Korea were from every English speaking country in the world.  They were either recent college graduates seeking adventure, people who could not locate jobs at home, people looking to save money to pay off debts, or just people who weren't satisfied with life back home.  After living there for a while, it began to feel like everyone and their mom was teaching English in South Korea.  After all, nearly everyone that I knew was an English teacher, so I forgot that this was not the normal path that most people take.  I mean I knew that this obviously was not the case, but once you are immersed in that world for an extended period of time, you get the sense that this was not unusual and even a common path.  This is just not the case, as I can't name more than 3 people I know personally from back home that have ever taught English in a foreign country.  Come to think of it, while in South Korea, I never met anyone from New Jersey and only a handful that were from the East coast of America.  I think this is a shame because I know so many people would benefit with the type of perspective teaching in a foreign country can give you.  Not so much the mindset that America is not a good place, but quite the opposite.  I began to understand why America was such a good place to live and grow up.  At the same time I gained an appreciation for what else there is out there, and became enticed by the idea that there were many other life paths I could pursue.  If living in South Korea could have such a profound affect on the way I viewed my life in America, and life in general, imagine what living in other places around the world could yield.  I believe that traveling is one of the best educations that a person can get.

It's funny because I sometimes forget how long I was actually gone because my life abroad was like a different life.  It almost feels like I went to sleep in November 2011 and had this amazing dream.  Then something reminds me of the duration of my absence.  For example, I walked into Best Buy and all the TVs are 300-400 dollars cheaper than the last time I was there.  Or I go for a run, and a trail that I know well, will abruptly end with a huge lot of solar panels that have obviously been there for a while.  Of course there are many other things that remind me that I have been gone for awhile, but overall I don't feel as though I really missed out on too much.  Even if I get the sense that I may have missed something I would have liked to have been there for, I don't for a second think I would have rather have been there for that one event over all the great events that occurred in my own life while abroad.  After a few conversations with my father, who is full of funny life stories and experiences, I realize that I now have many interesting stories to tell.  I feel sort of like a gained about 5 years of stories in the 19 months I was away.  One thing you learn, when you live or travel in a foreign place, is that normal everyday things in that country are quite interesting to you.  Whether I was walking to work in South Korea, ordering food in Tokyo, trying to use a payphone at a Chinese airport, stopping at a rest area in Thailand, drinking coffee in Vietnam or riding a bus in Cambodia, something unusual to my western experiences and sensibilities about life would occur.  In a backpacker magazine in Thailand, I read something that said roughly that the best thing about traveling is that everyday life in a new place is something that a traveler would find interesting and exciting.  Stopping at a Wawa in New Jersey might not yield anything noteworthy, while going to a Family Mart in Japan might become something that you will never forget.  It really is about the little things, and traveling to a new place will really make you appreciate and see the little things. 

I think that knowing these things about how exciting life can be, and how large and interesting the world can be, is what is impeding me from settling down with a full time job here.  I want more, and I think that is where I am right now. Saint Augustine's wisdom inspires me, "The world is a book and those who don't travel  read only one page."  I feel as though I am still in the introduction portion of that book, and won't feel satisfied until I read some more. For now, I will use this time to do things that I missed when I was away, and things that I feel compelled to do now that I don't have a full time job.  The main ones are reading, running and relaxing.  The three things that I think not enough people do, and can really cleanse your mind and body.  As for seeing some more of the "world book", I will find the next page, with a little time and luck.  Next time I promise to write about it as it happens.  Not just for others to read, but for me to stop and take stock in how lucky I am to have the opportunity.  If there is one thing I can tell you for sure, that I learned traveling, is that I am a lucky man.